Nubank

A no-fee card and free account that merchants and borrowers pay for: Nubank charges no annual fee on its core credit card because Mastercard interchange paid by merchants ($1.72B in 2025) covers it, but the real engine is lending: 85% of 2025 IFRS revenue of $15.8B was interest income, led by credit cards ($4.6B) and loans ($4.8B). Customers who arrive mostly by word of mouth bring cheap deposits ($45.3B in Q2 2026, at 88% of interbank rates) that fund a $39.4B credit book, while serving each active customer costs about $1 a month. That earned $2.87B net income in 2025 and a first billion-dollar quarter ($1.06B, Q2 2026) on 139M customers, and in 2026 Nu became a full bank in Mexico, agreed to buy a Brazilian bank license and launched in the US.

Business Model Canvas
Nubank
Research date: Oct 7, 2026
Evidence-backed · sources in companion brief

Key Partners

  • Mastercard network for all cards (FACT).
  • AWS primary cloud provider (FACT).
  • Chubb insurance, Claro phone plan (FACT).
  • Lead Bank for US accounts (FACT).
  • BCB, CNBV, SFC, OCC oversight (FACT).

Key Activities

  • AI underwriting (NuFormer) in 3 portfolios (FACT).
  • Limits grow with customer history (FACT).
  • 100+ launches in 2025 (FACT).
  • AI handles 60%+ of Brazil support chats (FACT).
  • Winning bank licences (FACT).

Key Resources

  • $45.3B deposits, 100% organic (FACT).
  • Deposit cost 88% of interbank rate (FACT).
  • 10+ years of transaction data (FACT).
  • 10,027 employees, end 2025 (FACT).
  • $8.9B total capital (FACT).

Value Propositions

  • No-annual-fee credit card (FACT).
  • Free digital account + Pix (FACT).
  • Limits grow as you build history (FACT).
  • Save, invest, insure in one app (FACT).
  • 28M people banked for the first time in Brazil (FACT).

Customer Relationships

  • App-only, no branches (FACT).
  • Primary bank for 62%+ of actives (FACT).
  • Primary-bank users default ~half as often (FACT).
  • 83.5% monthly activity (FACT).
  • 0.1% monthly net churn (FACT).

Channels

  • 71% of new Brazil customers organic (FACT).
  • Member-get-member referrals (FACT).
  • Marketing $302.8M, ~1.9% of revenue (FACT / INFERENCE).
  • App, cards, Pix, NuPay (FACT).
  • 30,000+ cash points in Mexico (FACT).

Customer Segments

  • 139M customers (FACT).
  • ~118M Brazil, 15.8M Mexico, 5M+ Colombia (FACT).
  • 62% of Brazilian adults (FACT).
  • 5.9M SME accounts in Brazil (FACT).
  • US + Nu Global since Sep 2026 (FACT).

Cost Structure

  • Credit losses $4.20B (FACT).
  • Deposit interest $3.88B (FACT).
  • G&A $1.42B; support $652M (FACT).
  • Marketing only $303M (FACT).
  • Efficiency ratio ~20% (FACT).

Revenue Streams

  • Interest income $13.43B, 85% (FACT / INFERENCE).
  • Loans $4.78B; cards $4.60B (FACT).
  • Interchange $1.72B (FACT).
  • Late fees $385M (FACT).
  • ARPAC $17.1 / month (FACT).
Sources: SEC EDGAR, Nu Holdings (CIK 1691493): Form 20-F FY2025 · 6-K Q2’26 earnings · 6-K FY’25 earnings · 6-Ks: OCC conditional approval (Jan 2026), CNBV bank authorization (Jul 2026), Banco Porto Real (Jul 2026), US launch (Sep 2026), Brazil licence intent (Dec 2025)